Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Another Bra


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I have finished another bra, and this one is a keeper. It's made with the first kit I got from ELingeriA, and everything except the upper cup piece is lined with powernet. I have to say that this is a real success in my eyes. It's supportive, comfortable in the extreme, and not bad looking, either. I've learned a few things between doing two versions now, and will once again make a few changes in the next model. I'm planning to do one more before I cut into the gorgeous orange kit fabrics. Thank you Sigrid for the warning about the lace. I'll watch it.


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I wish there was a way to show the shape of it without having to model it, but I don't think there is. You'll just have to imagine it.

The one I cut out this afternoon is a nude color except the top cup pieces will be pink/nude lace. It seems to me that in a way it's easier to do a bra with lace because the lace itself hides a lot of construction stuff that otherwise would be very obvious. Even the patterned fabric of this bra shows the seaming, etc. much more clearly than the lace version I did first. Lining the cups with powernet is absolutely essential for me, but it does make the seam allowances much thicker and more obvious. I used kind of a burrito method to seam this, as the Sewy instructions showed, and while it gives a nice smooth finish on top and inside the cup, it does throw all of the SAs to the same side and in the same spot. Not a real problem, except where all of the cup pieces come together. I'm not happy with that particular spot on one cup, and I'm thinking of what I can do to improve it this time. I think applying the lace on top of the joined lower and side cups rather than using a normal seam will work, and should make a much flatter seam area. I'm going to try it anyway.

NancyK asked what bra pattern I ended up using. It's a copy of a bra I have, a Rio by Freya. I used a pin and tracing paper to stab along the seam lines to copy the various pieces. Not high tech, but it works, and I have to say that it was nice knowing that at least the fit should be something I could expect to match the original, and it is. So, if you have a bra you like that is copy-able, it's something to try. One thing about this one that I think made success more likely is that it does NOT have stretchy cups.

Thank you all for the very nice comments on my new fabrics. I'm sure it will be a while before any finished article from any of the pieces shows up here, but in time, they will.

7 comments:

sewing said...

Awesome job! You have inspired me to try my hand at making bras. Thank you!

Ambitious Sewer said...

Wow! Awesome job it looks very professional and pretty.

gwensews said...

Couture bras! Who woulda' thought? Nice job.

Mardel said...

Wow, the bra looks really nice.

Anonymous said...

When I had wanted to show off the bra I made to my quilt guild members during 'show and tell', I wore a snug-fitting black turtleneck and wore the bra on top of my clothes. I arrived at the meeting with a vest buttoned over top and removed it at the crucial moment to their hoots of laughter and compliments!

Ann Made Studio said...

Liana,it looks perfect. It looks awesome, but then I knew it would ;)

Nancy K said...

It looks very professional Lianna!